back to article Peugeot to offer in-car Wi-Fi in 2010

Peugeot is to turn its cars into mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. Early next year, the French carmaker will offer an optional in-car wireless router that uses a HSDPA 3G modem as a backhaul. Dubbed WiFi On Board, the box will allow the user to connect using whichever carrier he or she prefers. At this stage, it's not clear to what …

COMMENTS

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  1. Donal Gavin

    Good idea?

    Well this is deffo gonna help stop people twitting and face booking while driving. good idea

  2. Chris Miller
    WTF?

    Why Wi-Fi?

    Bluetooth is surely a more obvious choice:

    1. Already used for hands-free mobiles.

    2. Lower power consumption.

    3. Only needed in the car, so 100m range not really necessary.

    What have I missed?

  3. Mark Fenton
    Thumb Up

    Excellent! This will kill DAB off good and proper!

    I can't wait for an internet radio in my car...no more listening to boring deary UK channels...

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    sweet upgrade.... now were really f'kd....

    Don't we have enough distractions to contened with whilst driving, chav boy/girl racers, spending all day messing with thier makeup/ICE/shooter, idiots taking a wrong turn cos thier sat-nav told them to turn right on a motorway, oap's croaking or causing pileup's cos they forgot which way to drive down the motorway.

    (not mention dodgy East European lorry drivers who are as pissed as pickled newts driving 50 tonnes of HGV on the wrong side of the road).

    My cars will be upgraded this year with the latest mobile jamming tech including the 5GHz range as well. (c/o that nice PRC company that makes them at a very nice price with superquick delivery via fleabay).

    along with (swiss made) RF shielding foil on all the windows...

    Mines the one with the prickly roof covered in antenna' in a roving deadzone coming down a motorway near you...

    and people wonder why we are all dying of various cancers in the west.

    newer shinyer (ooh it flashes blue, purdy lights...) Technology is not the answer.

    silver/bronze/gold foil might be though....

  5. M7S

    Range?

    Do I have to tailgate the Peugot in front to piggyback off their signal, or is body of the car a decent enough antenna to allow me safe stopping distance?

  6. Adrian Smith
    Go

    It's easy when you know how

    I put a 3G SIM and Draytek router with WIFI in my car 4 years ago. Works very well and often with five of us in the car we have four laptops and five phones all making use of it at once. Capital cost was £150.00. Monthly cost about £12.50.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Cool

    Will give you something to do while waiting for the RAC or AA man to come and tow you home.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Which standards?

    It would be nice if Peugeot's router supported 802.11s (mesh networking). That way, data traffic over 3G could be minimized if an alternate route (say to a municipal WiFi) were available. It would also increase the available bandwidth.

  9. Sooty

    can't see it myself

    a wireless router inside the car, that connects wirelessly with a 3g network, it kind of makes sense if you spend a massive amount of time ferrying you entire family all over the country, and the signal could be guaranteed. Otherwise it seems a bit of a waste. Otherwise why pay the subscription?

    I can sort of see the use, having any wi-fi device be able to tie into the 3g network, but having to tie it to a car as well seems a bit of a waste, on the other hand a portable 3g wireless router, that could connect to any wi-fi device rather than needing a usb connection, would be worth it. It could even have a cigarette lighter adapter so it would work in any car.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    I could see the point

    in something like a London Cab or something where businessmen- people who need to be connected- can be connected.

    But in a little 106 equivalent taking the kids to school? Yeah, fantastic. Lets let mum get pissed off endless rickrolls, or teenage kid #47 racking up a bill on the WiFi watching Porn from his room with a big aerial to get round whatever controls his parents put on the "proper" Internet connection.

  11. John Doe 6

    Real nerds got WiFi in their cars...

    ...we just install a UMTS WiFi router under the rear seat.

  12. Charles Manning

    Easy way to get around cellphone restrictions

    This will get around all those stupidly crafted cellphone bans.

    Instead of being sensible and legislating against getting distracted, far too many countries have legislated specifically against using cell phones while driving so that truckers and cabbies etc can still communicate while driving.

    Two-way radio. OK.Tetra radio (looks about the same as a cell phone) is not a cell phone and so is OK.

    Now you can use a VoIP handset and the plods can get stuffed.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Pointless and Dangerous

    Road warriors are already online with existing mobile connections. This is simply adding additional distractions to the ever increasing crap people will have in their cars.

    CARS ARE FOR DRIVING - if you want to twitter some drivel, pull into a service station or internet cafe. Or better still, grow up and GET A LIFE !

    And the excuse " what about the passengers". Apart from the fact there are already better passenger solutions, screw them - they can sit and have a conversation with the driver and other passengers. Perhaps if people talked to each other instead of sending them emails the world wouldn't be in the shit it's in now!

    What next - wifi on bicycles so that the lycra clad can wikikick James Martin even quicker ?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wifi and gsm inside the car ....

    Faraday cage...

  15. This post has been deleted by its author

  16. ElNumbre

    Or....

    ...I could just use my Windows Mobile phone which can behave as a 3G->WIFI bridge. Simplez.

    Anyway, unless they're installing an aerial somewhere outside the car, I can't see it being that useful, especially given how patchy the 3G network is, especially when you go beyond the boundaries of the urban grey.

  17. TeeCee Gold badge
    FAIL

    Re: I could see the point

    Don't worry. All the objectionable / dangerous actions that this could be put to would rely on one very important thing, for it to actually work.

    This is Peugeot, so we're talking French auto electrics here. Unless Satan's been seen out shopping for a cashmere scarf and fluffy slippers recently, there's nothing to worry about.

  18. chris 246
    Alert

    take your time...

    had a pc in my car for a months now essentially for music purposes

    It already tethered to my phone over bluetooth for internet access which was fine when it was just that,

    ...last month i reversed the wifi adapter's role to be an adhoc network for "inflight entertainment" as it were for people in the car, bluetooth is too slow, why be limited to 40kbps when you can get alot more with a cable from phone to pc (seeing as 3g is typically alot faster).

  19. Rob
    Stop

    I have an easier route

    My windows mobile has a WiFi router and internet sharing, so I'll just switch that on instead for the missus and the little'un.

    I'm surprised government hasn't stepped in and banned these sorts of ideas seeing as we dying quite quickly in large numbers on the road due to numpties who are distracted by something as simple as a text message.

    http://www.gwent.police.uk/leadnews.php?a=2172

  20. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    .sweet upgrade.... now were really f'kd....

    "newer shinyer (ooh it flashes blue, purdy lights...) Technology is not the answer."

    And yet here you are on a tech news site, haven't you got trees to hug?

  21. Lozzyho
    Troll

    Wow @ AC

    Isn't it amazing how all the anonymous inadequates get very worked up about something that'll never affect them but, somehow, they feel they owe an opinion to the world?

    In your own words, grow up and get a life.

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